Huawei FreeBuds SE 5 Max Review: Max Value
Jin Soh
When it comes to budget TWS earbuds, Huawei’s FreeBuds SE lineup has consistently punched above its weight. The company’s strategy here isn’t complicated: take features typically reserved for mid-range or flagship options and cram them into a package that costs less than a decent dinner date.
With the new Huawei FreeBuds SE 5 Max, Huawei is leaning hard into that exact value proposition. Priced at just RM159 in Malaysia, it offers adaptive ANC, dual-device pairing, and an absurdly long battery life claims. But how does it hold up in real-world testing? Let’s break it down.
What Is It?
The Huawei FreeBuds SE 5 Max is driven by 10mm dynamic drivers with LDAC support for Hi-Res Audio, paired with Bluetooth connectivity, multi-mode adaptive active noise cancellation, and an IP55 water and dust resistance rating.
Our review unit comes in the Blue colorway, which sports a stylish semi-transparent lid on the charging case. If translucent blue isn’t your thing, Huawei also offers it in standard Black and White options.
On paper, battery life is easily its headline feature. Huawei claims up to 14 days of total usage or up to 80 hours of playback time with the charging case factored in. Beyond battery life, you also get 4 preset EQ modes, 10 custom sound effects, and multi-connection support across both iOS and Android devices.
How Does It Sound?
For RM159, sound quality is actually quite decent, though it does show some limitations expected in entry-level hardware. Its sound signature is fairly neutral with a bass boost and hint of warmth. Overall, the soundstage feels relatively narrow, with decent width from left to right, but feels somewhat closed in when it comes to depth. Instruments are kept quite tightly knit together, so don’t expect pinpoint instrument separation on complex tracks.
The low end is heavily mid-bass focused. Sub-bass extension is lacking, meaning you won’t get that deep, reverberating sub-bass rumble on hip-hop or electronic tracks. That said, the mid-bass punch is present enough to give pop and rock tracks decent energy. Vocals sound surprisingly natural overall. There’s a slight touch of thinness and brightness in the upper midrange, and both male and female vocals could benefit from a bit more weight and warmth, but vocal clarity remains solid across most genres.
The highs are crispy without becoming overly bright or harsh. The treble control here is quite commendable for a budget pair, ensuring that higher frequencies don’t become sharp or fatiguing during long listening sessions.
The Good Stuff
Where the FreeBuds SE 5 Max really shines is its feature set. The dual-device connection between iOS and Android works seamlessly, allowing you to stay connected to your laptop and phone simultaneously without hiccup. The only extra step is setup: you’ll need to scan the QR code in the manual to grab the Huawei AI Life app from the App Store or Samsung Galaxy Store (for the Galaxy device we tested it with).
The Active Noise Cancellation is also well above average for this price tier. While it won’t dethrone top-tier ANC on premium flagships, it does a pretty good job. You get three ANC modes—Ultra, General, and Cozy—to adjust cancellation strength based on your surroundings. In practice, it easily drowns out low-frequency hums like air conditioners or engine noise and dampens background voices, though higher-pitched sounds like mechanical keyboard clacks in an office environment will still filter through.
The Bad Stuff
The gesture controls are easily the weakest link here. You can double-tap or triple-tap to manage playback, or press and hold to cycle through ANC modes or adjust volume. However, in my testing, I found the touch controls to not be very responsive. Having to press, hold, and wait for the volume to step up or down isn’t intuitive or pleasant to use, though given the lack of swipe controls, it’s likely the best solution Huawei could implement on this hardware.
Switching ANC modes also feels bogged down by software lag. The toggling isn’t instantaneous; you have to wait for the voice prompt to finish saying “Awareness” or “Noise Cancelling” before the actual mode switch takes effect, which makes the transition between modes feel slower than it actually is.
Is It Worth It?
At RM159, the Huawei FreeBuds SE 5 Max is quite an easy recommendation. It delivers solid overall sound quality, above-average ANC performance, seamless dual-device connectivity, and battery life that outlasts almost everything else in its class.
If you can look past the finicky gesture controls and minor soundstage limitations, these earbuds offer insane value and are easily one of the best budget TWS options you can pick up right now.